FEATURE SHOW
Saturday, November 29, 5 PMVideo Fan Riot, feat. Hot Dolphin (photo by Joey Wharton), Navi, Manzara, Gull, Big No @ Hardywood Park Craft Brewery – Free!
As a diehard music fan who was collecting records before there was even an internet, let alone filesharing, I suppose it’s not that big a surprise that I’m a huge fan of physical formats for media of all types. So of course, I am very thankful that Video Fan’s Kickstarter was successfully funded.FEATURE SHOW
Saturday, November 29, 5 PMVideo Fan Riot, feat. Hot Dolphin (photo by Joey Wharton), Navi, Manzara, Gull, Big No @ Hardywood Park Craft Brewery – Free!
As a diehard music fan who was collecting records before there was even an internet, let alone filesharing, I suppose it’s not that big a surprise that I’m a huge fan of physical formats for media of all types. So of course, I am very thankful that Video Fan’s Kickstarter was successfully funded. The fact that there’s still someplace left in RVA where you can rent movies (other than a vending machine with a 50-title selection) fills me with civic pride. And considering Video Fan received pledges from nearly 800 people, I’m guessing I’m far from the only one who feels this way.

All of which makes the party taking place Saturday evening at Hardywood that much more appropriate. The “Video Fan Riot” will serve two important functions–as a celebration of Video Fan’s successful Kickstarter campaign, and as a showcase for excellent music! Supposedly the bands contain members of Video Fan’s staff, but I can’t actually confirm that. What I can confirm is that this is a killer lineup–one that significantly betters the already-powerful double and triple bills that Hardywood’s been presenting on Saturday evenings for a while now.

Your headliners are the out-of-control rock n’ roll juggernaut known as Hot Dolphin, about whom I’ve told you many times. If you haven’t seen them yet, cancel whatever else you’re planning to do on Saturday evening and get your butt over to Hardywood for their set! But really, see all five of these bands, as all of them constitute highlights of the evening all by themselves. Two-piece noise-rock force of nature Navi is another I’ve told you about many times, and the nigh-unbelievable one-man band known as Gull is always fascinating. Manzara appears to be Canary Oh Canary with a different bass player, though whether this counts as a new incarnation of the same band or something totally different remains to be seen. And of course, Big No is another great rock n’ roll band from longtime RVA musicians with colorful musical backgrounds. Forget all the sale prices at the big box stores and come support the victory of small business over faceless capitalism!

Wednesday, November 26, 10 PMThelma and The Sleaze, The Nervous Ticks @ En Su Boca – Donations requested
It’s the night before Thanksgiving, and the highways will be filled tonight with minivans containing disgruntled, stir-crazy families on the way to grandma’s house to kick off the holiday season by eating way too much and getting into arguments with relatives. If you’re staying in town tonight, you’re one of the lucky ones, so why not celebrate? En Su Boca has the perfect opportunity for you to do just that, with a rockin’ party featuring the world-class talents of Thelma And The Sleaze. Hailing from Nashville, this band is just one of many putting that city on the map all over again as a geographical center for rock n’ roll every bit as exciting as Nashville country circa 2014 is boring.

In fact, Thelma And The Sleaze are sure to get your heart beating faster, even if you’re immune to the charms of their bad-girl image. That toughness comes through just as strongly in their kickass riffing and defiant vocals, always delivered with just a hint of pop sweetness underneath it all. Their latest EP, Heart Like A Fist, rages from top to bottom, and their set is sure to do the same. With RVA’s most primitive musical maniacs, The Nervous Ticks, opening things up, it’s sure to get totally crazy at the taco joint tonight! Show up early if you want to eat tacos, because once music kicks off and the sweat and beer starts flying, food will be the last thing on your mind!

Thursday, November 27, 9 PMTurkey Day JamWich with Stretch & The Elastics @ Cary Street Cafe – Free!
Thanksgiving is one of two major holidays on which it can be hard to find anything fun to go out and enjoy. If you’re spending time with your oh-so-functional extended family, eating delicious food and falling asleep in front of a football game, then that probably doesn’t matter but so much to you. But if you can’t make it to where your family’s hanging out, or you’re just being driven crazy by your nagging relatives, have no fear–there is at least one place you can go to enjoy live music this Thanksgiving day! Cary Street Cafe are not presenting anything all that formal–Stretch and the Elastics are not much more than a partytime cover band bringing together Emilio’s soundman Matt Sthresley, two of the Santamaria brothers, and guitarist Steven Boone, but they’re certainly capable of keeping you entertained for an evening. And they’ll be joined by surprise guests throughout the night–including you, if you’re so inclined! So if you just have to get out of the house on Thanksgiving night, head on over to Cary Street Cafe and join the fun. It’s certainly better than spending a holiday by yourself.

Friday, November 28, 7 PMJ. Roddy Walston & The Business, Avers @ The National – $12.50 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Richmond has been proud to have nomadic rockers J. Roddy Walston & The Business in town over the past few years that they’ve been making this place their home. Last year, they helped cement their place as local favorites with the release of their third full-length, Essential Tremors, on ATO Records. Lead single “Heavy Bells” scored quite a bit of airplay on rock stations all over the country, and for good reason, as it is a hell of a rockin’ jam. Go ahead, listen to it now; I’ll bet you have it in your head all day. Luckily for you, you can see the whole band bash out this one and a whole bunch of other awesome songs at The National this Friday; Walston and the Business have a reputation for being a powerful, energetic live band, and they’ll be proving it once they hit the stage. Come dance the night away with them, and sweat off some of that turkey you ate too much of the day before!

And of course, you’ll be able to enjoy the bonus psychedelia of openers Avers as well. These fellow Richmonders will act as the perfect compliment to Walston and his boys, laying down some hazy yet memorable sounds from their debut album, Empty Light, and maybe some you haven’t heard studio versions of yet–if what they told us earlier this year is any indication, they have an entire new album waiting in the wings. You’ve heard all the “members of” mumbo-jumbo by now, so I won’t get into all that. Instead, I’ll just say that Avers is worth the price of admission all by themselves, and catching them as an opening act on a show like this is the kind of lucky break you won’t find yourself enjoying too often.

Friday, November 28, 10 PMRich Homie Quan @ The Mirage Nightclub – $40 (for ticket purchasing info, click HERE)
Man, I’m not going to lie to y’all–it’s gonna be difficult for me to make this show. $40 is not cheap, as I think we all know, and I’ve got Christmas shopping to do, so I may not be able scrape it up. But I think I’d be remiss in my responsibilities as a reporter of local music happenings if I didn’t let you know that Rich Homie Quan is gonna be in town this Friday night. The fact that I’m almost certainly going to miss this show is definitely making me feel some type of way (shut up, you KNEW it was coming), but if you have the means and can head over to Mirage Nightclub and enjoy it, I highly recommend you do so.

Rich Homie Quan is heading up to Richmond from Atlanta, where he’s part of a wave of simultaneously tough and melodic rappers–Future, Young Thug, etc. Songs like “Type Of Way” and “Walk Thru” have definitely put him on the map where modern hip hop is concerned, and have the bonus capability of getting stuck in your head all day–plus, they’re really fun to sing along to. Quan’s dropped several mixtapes over the past couple of years, but we’re still waiting for his official debut album, which means he’s probably gonna be a lot bigger in a year or two than he even is right now. You probably won’t have the chance to see him in a club setting again anytime soon, so you should definitely take the opportunity to do so now.

Sunday, November 30, 7 PMRed States, Cloud Gavin, Tragic Fortune, Gemini Love @ The Camel – $5
Red States is a name I’ve been hearing around town a lot over the past year or so, but I must admit, I didn’t check these guys out until recently. I don’t know why I was expecting some pretty generic punk rock, but that certainly wasn’t what I got; instead, their recently released EP, High Bison, is full of super-catchy power-pop tunes driven by chunky guitars and energetic vocals. Sometimes they even scream, which surprised me, but pleasantly so! So the question becomes–what are these guys like live? You’ll get the perfect opportunity to find out this Sunday night when Red States headline a 5-dollar show at The Camel to wrap up this long holiday weekend.

They’ll be joined on the bill by Illinois’ Cloud Gavin, who I’m also unfamiliar with, but appear to have a decent amount of history built up in the midwest. They’re currently touring behind their just-released third album, Fermata Supreme, which has a bit of an emo feel, though it’s definitely got some heavier elements in the mix as well. Their songs are dynamic and carry some emotional weight to them, so these guys should certainly come off well in the live environment. The bill will be rounded out by Charlottesville alt-rockers Tragic Fortune and two-piece RVA indie tunesmiths Gemini Love. It’s a whole evening of great music waiting to be discovered–come out to the Camel and enjoy it!

Monday, December 1, 5:30 PMSoul Search, Forced Order, Holy Land, Mizery, Fury @ Strange Matter – $10
This Monday, start your December off right with an all-ages hardcore matinee! And this isn’t just any old hardcore–a lot of these bands sound really similar to the bands I used to see at hardcore shows back in the early 90s when I was attending all-ages hardcore matinees. The pendulum always swings back around, I suppose. Anyway, Soul Search were just in town a couple months ago; they played second out of six bands on the last Tough Luck show, opening for Twitching Tongues and Code Orange, among others. This show is a bit less overwhelmingly jam packed with all-stars, so Soul Search have been elevated to headlining status, and the kind of tough, groovy moshcore they dish out on their Nothing But A Nightmare EP, recently reissued by legendary youthcrew label Revelation, proves that these guys deserve to top this bill. Moshy hardcore can certainly get boring at times, I’m the first to admit that; however, these guys have the riffs, energy, and passionate delivery to make their music riveting at all times.

Soul Search will be joined on this bill by Forced Order, who are both fellow Californians and fellow recent Revelation signees. What they do is a bit more old-school, complete with faster songs and a rougher sound, but the singer can growl and grunt with the best of them. I’d expect these guys to get all the fans of old-school Integrity and Ringworm steamrolling the pit. Elsewhere on the bill, locals Holy Land will display their excellent Mean Season influences, while Cali’s Mizery jump in as last-minute replacements for Violent Situation, bringing a thrash-metal influence to the bill with some galloping guitars. Finally, the show will start out with the most old-school sounding band on this bill, Boston’s Fury, who are new to me but appear to have quite a few fans locally. Show up on time and see what the kids are stoked about these days.

Tuesday, December 2, 7 PMFriend Roulette, Manatree, Recluse Raccoon @ Gallery 5 – Price TBD
Here’s some off-kilter pop goodness coming your way from Brooklyn’s Friend Roulette. This band features six members trading off on all sorts of instruments both expected and unexpected. Two drum kits, clarinet, violin, EWI, guitar, bass, and vocals all figure into what these guys are doing, and while the result can involve some pretty weird noises at times, it’s always anchored by the gorgeous vocals of Julia Tepper. The resulting orchestral pop is both as weird and as memorable as you’d expect from a troupe of quirky music makers coming your way from Brooklyn. You may not quite understand how they put together every song, but you’re sure to be captivated by the result.

Manatree will be joining Friend Roulette on this bill, and these young men have been playing their particular brand of catchy alternative rock infused with complex lead guitar lines and subtly complex rhythmic structures for quite a while. However, they are still very young, which makes it sort of shocking how good they are at what they do. Get used to it, y’all–these dudes rock, and will probably continue to do so for some time to come. Their new full-length is due to be released anytime now, and this show will undoubtedly feature some new tunes you need to get familiar with. Come check it out. Local bedroom pop project Recluse Raccoon rounds out the bill. Just as a brief disclaimer here, I have no idea how much this show is going to cost. The poster says free, Gallery 5’s website says $4, and for whatever reason I can’t seem to see the facebook event page, so if there are answers hidden there, I don’t know them. But even at the highest possible price point, this is still a bargain, so just throw a few bucks in your pocket and go! You won’t be sorry.

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Should I be posting about your show? Make sure I know it’s happening–email me: [email protected]